Tube clamping means



June28, 1955 F. R. WILSON 2,711,576

' TUBE CLAMPING MEANS Original Filed March-1, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 j/guZ 3 43 :7 47 47 L Z l IN V EN TOR. FRANK R. WILSON BY DESJARDINS,ROBINSON 8- KEISER HIS ATTORNEYS June 28, 1955 F. R. WILSON TUBECLAMPING MEANS 4 Sheets-She et 2 Original Filed March 1, 1952 IN V ENTOR. FRANK R WILSON BY DES JARDINS, ROBINSON a KEISER HIS ATTQRNEYS June28, 1955 F. R. WILSON I 2,711,575

TUBE CLAMPING MEANS Original Filed March 1, 1952 4 Sheets-Shet 3INVENTOR. FRANK R. WILSON BY DES JARDINS, ROBINSON 8- KElSER HIS ATTORNEYS June 28, 1955 F. R. WILSON 2,711,576

TUBE CLAMPING MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed March 1, 1952INVENTOR. FRANK R. WILSON DES JARDINS, ROBINSON & :EISER HIS AT TORN EYSUnited rates Patent TUBE CLAMPIN G MEANS Frank R. Wilson, Memphis, Tenn.

Original application March 1, 1952, Serial No. 274,403. Divided and thisapplication October 16, 1953, Serial No. 386,577

7 Claims. (Cl. 29-284) This invention relates to a hand-operated tubeflaring tool and, more particularly, to a tube clamping means for usewith such a tool.

This application is a division of my copending appli cation Serial No.274,403 for Tube Flaring Tool filed March 1, 1952. v

In the prior art tube flaring devices of the hand tool type, it has beencustomary to cause a cone-shaped plug to be forced into the end of thetube to be flared so as to spread the tube and form a bell-shaped mouthor flare on the end thereof. In the performance of this operation, thetube is usually held in place by means of a split clamping block whichgrips the tube and holds it stationary While the plug is being forcedinto the end of the tube. This method of flaring the ends of tubes isslow and inefficient and results in an inferior product since the flarethus formed is dimensionally inaccurate and the surface of the flaredportion of the tube will be left in a rough, unfinished condition.According to the present invention, 1 have provided a tube flaring toolof the hand-operated type which is adapted to spin a flare on the end ofa tube and, thereafter, burnish the interior face of the flare so as toproduce a flare having an accurate, polished surface. To accomplish thisresult, I have devised a tool of novel construction and having animproved type of clamping device for holding the tube in position whilethe flare is being formed thereon and also While it is being burnishedafter the flare has been produced.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a novel tubeclamping means Which is adapted to clamp tubes of various diameters incorrect axial alignment with the tube flaring cone.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tube clamping means foruse with a tube flaring tool which includes a pair of members pivotallyconnected together and rotatable about spaced, parallel axes, with eachmemher being provided about its periphery with a plurality ofsemieylindrical slots of various curvatures and with each of the slotsmatching a corresponding slot in the other member so as to formtherewith a tube-clamping opening when the members are swung together.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tube clamping meanscomprised of a pair of clamping members each having the form of anirregular polygon with tube clamping slots of varying sizes formed inthe sides of the members, the length of the sides of the clampingmembers being approximately proportional to the size of the slots formedtherein.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing description and drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of flaring tool for carrying outthe principles of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1.

2,711,576 Patented June 28, 1955 Fig. 4 is an end view of the tubeflaring cone shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the device of Fig. 1, showing the clampingmeans in closed position.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the device of Fig. 1, after being rotatedshowing further details of the tub. clamping means.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken along the line 88 ofFig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the flaring tool shown in Fig. 1, theclamping means being shown in the open position in this view, and thehandle being positioned at right angles to its Figs. 1 and 5 position.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken along the lineIii-10 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of one of the clamping members.

While my invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms,I have shown in the drawings and shall hereinafter describe a singleembodiment thereof with the understanding that the present disclosure isto be considered merely as an exemplification of the principles of theinvention and is not intended to limit the invention to the particularembodiment shown. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in theappended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown herein one form of flaringtool which comprises, in general, a U-shaped fitting or yoke 21, a tubeclamping means 22, and a tube flaring means includin a flaring cone 24.The cone 24 is adapted to be rotated by handle 26 and advanced againstthe upper end of a tube 25 held in place in the clamping means 22.

The tube flaring tool of the present invention is so designed as toprovide means for advancing the flaring cone 24 against the end of atube to produce the required degree of flare on the tube, and then topermit the flaring cone to be rotated against the flared end of the tubewithout further advancement so as to burnish or otherwise smooth andpolish the flare. In the specific form of tool chosen for illustratingthe invention, the advancement of the flaring means is accomplished byrotating a threaded member relative to a threaded carrying elementmounted upon or forming a part of the yoke member. When the desireddegree of flare has been achieved, relative rotation between suchmembers is prevented whereupon the flaring means may continue to berotated without simultaneously being advanced. After the burnishingoperation has been completed, reversal of the direction of rotation ofthe handle 26 serves to withdraw the flaring means from the flared endof the tube and thus permit easy removal of the tube, and simultaneouslyto condition the tube flaring tool for the next flaring operation.

Referring now to Fig. 8 of the drawings, the base of the cone 24 isprovided with a threaded extension or projection 30 which is locateddiametrically opposite the apex of the cone and is adapted to bereceived within a threaded hole provided in an enlarged head 31 formedon the lower end of a spindle or shaft 32 which is rotatably supportedWithin an externally threaded member or sleeve 33. The head 31 ishexagonal in shape, as shown in Fig. 1, so that a wrench may be appliedthereto to hold the shaft 32 stationary when the threaded extension 30on the flaring cone 24 is screwed onto the bottom of the shaft. As shownin Figs. 1 and 5, an anti-friction thrust bearing 27 is provided betweenthe flaring cone and the lower end of the sleeve 33 for the purpose ofabsorbing the upward thrust produced on the cone during tube flaringoperations with a minimum of frictional restraint between the cone andthe sleeve. As shown in Fig. 8, this bearing may take the form of aseries of small, steel balls 34 running in a raceway 28 provided in aflange or shoulder 29 which defines the top edge of the head 31 formedon the bottom of shaft 32, though it may also take the form of any othersuitable device for reducing friction between the shoulder 29 and thebottom of the sleeve 33. The sleeve 33 is supported in a carrying memberor element comprising, in the embodiment herein disclosed, an internallythreaded opening 35 provided in the cross-arm of the yoke 21.

' At its upper end, the sleeve 33 is provided with an annular flange 33'which lies just beneath the operating handle 26. The sleeve 33 extends ashort distance above the flange 33' and this portion of the sleeve isprovided with a hexagonal conformation as is clearly illustrated in Fig.2. A clutch means is provided for connecting the sleeve with the shaft32, this means including a ratchet 36 mounted on the upper end of thesleeve 33, this ratchet having a hub 36 formed thereon provided with ahexagonal opening which is adapted to mate with the hexagonally-shapedupper extremity of the sleeve 33. Consequently, the ratchet 36 is keyedto the sleeve 33 and is nonrotatable with respect thereto. The notchedperiphery of the ratchet 36 is adapted to cooperate with either of theteeth 39 or 40 of a double-acting pawl 37 mounted for pivotal movementon a rivet 38 mounted in the handle 26. The pawl 37 is held either inthe position shown in Fig. 5, in which the tooth 39 engages with theratchet 36, or in a shifted position in which the tooth 40 engages withthe ratchet, by means of a toggle spring 41 having one end secured tothe handle 26 and the other end received within a notch 42 provided inthe rear end of the pawl 37. The upper end of the shaft 32 is providedwith a portion which is of square cross-section. As illustrated in Figs.3 and 8 of the drawings, this portion of the shaft is received within asquare opening provided in a cap 44 which is welded or otherwise securedto the handle 26. The handle is thus keyed to the shaft 32 so as toconstrain these two parts to rotate together. The handle 26 is retainedon the upper end of shaft 32 by means of a cap screw 43 which isreceived within a threaded hole provided in the upper end of the shaft.

The handle 26 is formed of two similar plates 45 and 46 which are heldtogether in spaced relation by means of rivets 47 as shown in Fig. 8.The ratchet 36 lies between the plates 45 and 46 and the hub 36' thereofis received in circular openings provided in the plates. The pawl 37,like the ratchet 36, lies between the plates 45 and 46 and is therebyheld in alignment with the ratchet 36. 7

With the pawl 37 in the position shown in Fig. 5. i. e., with the tooth39 engaged with the ratchet, clockwise rotation of the handle producesclockwise rotation of the shaft 32 and, through the medium of theratchet 36 and pawl 37, produces a clockwise rotation of the sleeve 33to advance the flaring cone 24 toward and against the end of the tube tobe flared. After the flaring cone has been advanced sufliciently toproduce the desired flare, direction of rotation of the handle may bereversed to rotate the flaring means without causing further rotation ofthe sleeve. Since the frictional restraint of the threads on the sleeve33 with the threads provided in the opening in the yoke is much greaterthan the frictional restraint between the bottom of the sleeve 33 andhead 31 on the shaft 32 due to anti-friction bearing 27, the sleeve willremain stationary while the cone 24 rotates. Hence, the flared end ofthe tube will be burnished while the tooth 39 of the pawl 37 ratchetsover the teeth provided on the ratchet 36. When the burnishing operationis completed, the flaring cone may be retracted by merely shifting thepawl 37 to engage tooth with the ratchet and rotating the handlecounterclockwise whereupon the tooth 40 of the pawl will cause thesleeve 33 to rotate in unison with the shaft 32 and cause upward feedingmovement of the cone. The flared and burnished tube 25 may be removedfrom the device and replaced with the next tube to be flared and thepawl shifted back to the position shown in Fig. 5 so that clockwiserotation of the handle will again cause downward feeding movement of theflaring cone 24.

The flaring cone 24 is so constructed as to provide rolling contact, ascontrasted with sliding contact, between the cone and the end of thetube to be flared. To this end, a plurality of conical rollers 60 (Fig.8) are fitted in the sides of the cone with the apex of each of therollers located adjacent the apex of the cone. The cone 24 is providedabout its periphery with a series of conical recesses within which therollers 60 are received. Each recess is provided near its apex with abearing surface 61 for supporting the apex end of its associated roller60. Above the bearing surface 61, each recess is relieved so as toprovide a clearance 53 between the recess and the upper portion of theroller. The bearing surface 61 of each recess extends more than half wayaround its related roller so as to provide overhanging lips 62 and 63(Fig. 4) which overlie, in part, the apex end of the roller and hold itin place within the recess. That is, the recesses extend through an arcof more than but substantially less than 360 so as to retain the rollerstherein and, at the same time, allow a substantial portion of eachroller to project beyond the peripheral face of the cone.

Each of the conical recesses provided in the cone 24 .is provided at itsbase with a cylindrical portion 64 (Fig. 8) within which an annularbushing 65 may be received. Each bushing 65 is provided with a bore 66within which is journaled a stub shaft or tenon 67 formed on the baseend of each roller 60. The rollers and their associated bushings 65 maybe inserted in the cone by dropping them through the openings 64whereupon the lower or apex end of each roller will seat in itsrespective bearing surface 61 and the upper end thereof will besupported for rotation in the bore 66 of bushing 65. The rollers andbushings are retained in place within the recesses by an annular end cap69 which is apertured to fit over the threaded extension 30 of the cone24. This cap is held in place on the end of the cone 24 by the head 31on shaft 32 which engages the cap when the cone is screwed in place onthe lower end of the shaft.

Each tenon 67 of the rollers 60 is provided with a rounded end 54 (Fig.8) which is adapted, during tube flaring operations, to make contactwith the bottom face 'of the end cap 69 and thereby overcome the upwardthrust produced on the rollers 60 by the end of the tube being flared.By thus rounding the end of each tenon 67, point contact is providedbetween the tenon 67 and the substantially fiat bottom face of the cap69. Hence, very little resistance to the rotation of rollers 60 will beoffered by the thrust bearing provided by the rounded end 54 and thebottom of the end cap 69 and free rolling movement of the rollersagainst the end of the tube being flared will be insured.

The means for clamping the tube to be flared in position beneath theflaring cone is best shown in Figs. 7 and 8 and comprises a first pairof base plates 70 and 71 which are hingedly connected by a bolt 72 to asecond pair of base plates. The second pair of base plates are similarin construction to the first pair, and therefore will be designated as70a and 71a, and like parts associated with each pair of plates will begiven like numerals, those associated with the second pair carrying thesuffix a. Between each pair of base plates is a polygonal body or tubeclamping member 73 and 73a each of which is rotatable about a pivot bolt74 and 74a mounted in the base plates. The members 73 and 73a may eitherbe machined from a solid block of metal or they may be built up from aseries of stamped laminations 75 as shown in Fig. 11. The laminationsare secured together to form the polygonal clamping member or die bymeans of three rivet pins 75 (Fig. 11) and the edges or sides of eachclamping member are provided with hemi-cylindrical slots 76 and 76a,respectively. The slots 76 and 76a are provided at their upper ends withcountersunk portions 77 and 77a, respectively, to provide a back-up facefor supporting the flared end of a tube in case the particular clampingmeans shown herein should be used with a conventional flaring cone. Thisface is not required, however, when my improved style of tube flar ingcone is used.

The number and size of the slots- 76 provided in the clamping member 73are, of course, equal in number to and matching in size with the slots76a provided in the member 73a so that each of the clamping members maybe rotated about its pivot bolt 74 and 74a to bring together matching,hemi-cylindrical slots and thereby form a cylindrical tube clampingopening when the two pairs of base plates are swung from the openposition, shown in Fig. 9, to the closed position, shown in Fig. 7. Thehemi-cylindrical slots of each member 73 and 73a are so located aboutthe periphery of the member that their centers of curvature, or centralaxes, are all equidistant from the axis of rotation of the member. Also,each of the slots 76 and 76a provided in the members 73 and 73a are of adifferent radius so as to accommodate tubes of differing sizes.Furthermore, the slots are not arranged in the order of their diameteror radius, but are so positioned about the outer periphery of theclamping members so as to enable the member to accommodate the maximumnumber of slots. However, thecenters of curvature or central axes of allof the slots for a particular clamping member lie on a circle Whosecenter is located at the center of the pivot bolt on which the member isrotatably supported. Toward this same end, the sides of the members areirregular in size, some being longer than others, that is, the sides inwhich the larger slots are located are longer than the sides in whichthe smaller slots are located, the length of the sides beingapproximately proportional to the size of the slots formed therein, sothat the size of the clamping members is kept much smaller than would bepossible if all the sides were made of the same size.

As mentioned earlier herein, the second pair of base plates 70a and 71aare hinged on the bolt 72 so that this pair of plates may be swung fromthe closed position shown in Fig. 7 to the open position shown in Fig.9, and vice versa. The base plates 70a and 71a are hinged on the bolt 72by means of a U-shaped bracket 78 (see also Fig. l) which lies betweenand is welded to the base plates 70a and 71a. The laterally turned earsof the bracket are bored to receive a sleeve 79 (Fig. 8) which isadapted to be received in similar holes provided in base plates 70 and71. The hinge bolt 72 is provided with a shank which fits within thesleeve 79, and also with a threaded tenon adapted to screw into thelower end of leg 19 of the yoke 21. Thus, the second pair of base plates70a and 71a may be swung about the pivot provided by the bolt 72 and thebushing 79, the ears of the bracket 78 being adapted to rotate on thesleeve 79 which is clamped tightly by the bolt 72.

The two pairs of base plates are adapted to be clamped together in theirclosed positions by means of a clamping bolt 81 which is hinged on abolt 84 screwed into the lower end of the leg 18 of the yoke 21. Asshown in Fig. 6, the inner end of bolt 81 is secured to a sleeve 82which is rotatably journaled on a bushing 80 which is received at eitherend in holes provided therefor in base plates 70 and 71. Hence, the bolt84, when screwed into the tapped hole provided therefor in the bottom ofleg 18 of the yoke, will retain the bushing 80 in said holes in theplate 70 and 71 and provide a pivot for the bolt 81 secured to thesleeve 82. A U-shaped bracket 83 (Figs. 6 and 7) is welded between ears87 and 88 provided on the base plates 70a and 71a and a slotted plate iswelded between the top and bottom flanges of the bracket 83 at the outerend thereof, as shown in Fig. 6, so as to provide a surface againstwhich a wing nut 86 threaded on the bolt 81 may be tightened. Ifdesired, a washer 89 may be interposed between the wing nut 86 and theslotted plate 85 to facilitate the clamping action of the wing nutagainst the plate. By loosening the wing nut 86, the bolt 81 may beswung outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 9 after which the pair ofbase plates 70a and 71a may be swung away from the base plates 70 and 71so as to permit removal of the tube which has been flared and theinsertion of another tube in the clamping device. The pair of baseplates 70a and 71a is then swung to the closed position shown in Fig. 7,whereupon the clamping bolt 81 is swung inwardly, the shank of the boltbeing received within the slot provided in the end plate 85. The Wingnut 86 is then tightened so as to clamp the'two pairs of base platestogether and securely clamp the tube to be flared within the apertureprovided by the hemi-cylindrical slots 76 and 76a provided in theclamping members 73 and 73a. It will be noted that the yoke 21 and thefirst pair of base plates 70 and 71 are immovable with respect to oneanother, and that the second pair of base plates 70a and 71a is mountedfor pivotal movement relative to the first pair of base plates and tothe yoke 21.

Means are provided on each of the clamping members for assisting theoperator in selecting the desired hemicylindrical slots so that matchingslots of the proper size will be opposite one another when the membersare swung together. As shown in Fig. 10, a leaf spring 90 is secured tothe base plate 71 by means of a screw 91. The spring 90 carries a detent92 which extends upwardly through a hole 93 provided in the base plate.The clamping member 73 is provided with a circularly arranged series ofindexing notches or dimples 94 (Fig. 7), there being one such dimple foreach hemi-cylindrical slot 76. Thus, as the clamping member is rotatedto bring the desired slot into position, the rounded end formed on thedetent 92 will snap into the appropriate dimple 94 to accurately locatethe clamping member in correct clamping position. A similar locatingmeans consisting of elements 90a to 94a, inclusive, is provided for theclamping member 73a.

To further assist the user of the tool in selecting the proper clampingslot 76 or 76a, the clamping members 73 and 73a are each provided with aseries of indicia which, in the present embodiment of the invention,consists of numerals 95 and 95a (Fig. 11) inscribed on the upper facethereof and arranged in a circle about the axis of rotation of each ofthe clamping members. As shown in Fig. 5, the upper base plates 70 and7001 are each provided with a sight opening 96 and 96a, respectively,through which the numerals 95 and 95a may be viewed. Hence, theappropriate numeral 95 or 95a will appear in the sight openings eachtime a clamping slot 76 and 76a is brought into operative position. Thenumerals 95 and 95a shown herein are adapted to indicate the size of theclamping slot in sixteenths of an inch. Thus, if the numeral 8 isbrought into position beneath each sight opening 96 and 96a as shown inFig. 5, this will indicate to the user of the tool that the properclamping slot for a /2" tube is located in operative position.

'Having now described my invention in considerable detail in connectionwith the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, andhaving, in connection with such description, utilized certain specificterms and language herein, it is to be understood that the presentdisclosure is illustrative rather than restrictive and that changes andmodifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orscope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by United States Letters Patent, is:

1. Tube clamping means comprising a pair of clamping members each havingthe form of an irregular polygon in cross-section, a plurality of tubeclamping slots of varying sizes formed in the sides of each of saidmembers, the length of the sides of said members being approximatelyproportional to the size of the slots formed therein, and each of saidmembers being mounted to turn about an axis parallel to and equidistantfrom the central axis of each of the slots formed therein and of thetube clamped thereby, means providing for movement of said memberstoward one another so as to bring a slot on one member adjacent amatching slot on the other member to thereby form an open-ended tubeclamping closure, and means for clamping the members together.

2. The tube clamping means of claim 1 in which the slots formed in thesides of said clamping members are so arranged about the peripheries ofsaid members as to enable the slots to be accommodated on a clampingmember of the least possible size.

3. A tube flaring tool comprising a two-legged yoke,

a pair of spaced base plates secured to the legs of said yoke, anotherpair of spaced base plates hinged on one of the legs of said yoke foropening and closing movements relative to said first-mentioned pair ofbase plates, a tube clamping member received in the space between thebase plates of each of said pairs of base plates, said members eachhaving a plurality of hemi-cylindrical slots of different sizes formedin the outer edges thereof and being mounted on said base plates forrotation about an axis parallel to and equidistant from the central axisof each of said slots, and means for clamping the pairs of base platestogether with a slot in one clamping member matching a slot in the otherclamping member to form therewith a tube clamping cylinder.

4. The tube flaring tool of claim 3 wherein one plate of each pair ofbase plates is provided with a sight opening lying at a predetermineddistance from the axis of rotation of its associated tube clampingmember, and each tube clamping member is provided on one face thereofwith a series of indicia each lying at a distance 8 from the axis ofrotation of the clamping member equal to said predetermined distance soas to register with said sight opening as the clamping member is rotatedto indicate to the user of the tool the size of the slot selected foruse.

5. The tube flaring tool of claim 4 including a series of indexingnotches arranged in a circle about the axis of rotation of each of theclamping members, and a springurged detent adapted to engage in one ofthe notches each time one of the indicia is brought into registrationwith said sight opening.

6. A tube clamping die for use in tube clamping means comprising a bodyhaving the form of an irregular polygon in cross-section, a plurality oftube clamping slots of varying sizes formed in the sides of said body,the central axis of each slot coinciding with the longitudinal axis ofthe tube clamped therein, the length of each of the sides of said bodybeing approximately proportional to the size of the slot formed therein,and means for supporting said body for rotation about an axis parallelto and equidistant from the central axis of each of the slots formedtherein.

7. The tube flaring tool of claim 3 wherein said clamping means includesa clamp bolt hinged on the other leg of said yoke for swinging movementinto and out of clamping engagement with said other pair of spaced baseplates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS870,828 Jorgensen Nov. 12, 1907 1,531,377 Clarke Mar. 31, 1925 1,856,827Carruthers May 3, 1932 2,302,794 Neukirch Nov. 24, 1942 2,424,871 WenkJuly 29, 1947 2,505,665 Franck Apr. 25, 1950 2,526,210 Edelmann Oct. 17,1950 2,563,088 Wilks Aug. 7, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 177,843 Great BritainApr. 3, 1922

